ESSA D7.1 Policy Recommendations 

Digital transformation and climate change represent the main drivers of innovation for European industry. In particular, green and digital technologies help to increase energy and resource efficiency and contribute to keeping materials in use for longer.
However, the right skills are needed to implement, operate and exploit these technologies to best effect. The ESSA project has developed a sector-driven Blueprint following a bottom-up social innovation process to address skills needs, which integrates all the relevant stakeholders (companies, training providers, research institutions, associations, social partners, policy makers, public administration, and civil society organisations). It has identified where there is need for re- and up- skilling and talent recruitment, and identified strategies for developing a highly skilled workforce, proactively addressing skills gaps, and engaging the workforce with new technological innovations. As part of the Blueprint, we offer policy recommendations to support these strategies and address the deep transformations the industry is currently experiencing.
The first policy recommendations are presented as general recommendations. Second, we offer policy recommendations at three levels in order to provide further contextualisation: European, national and regional. Third, we present some recommendations related to the specific support of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

D6.3 Exploitation Plan (Final Version, June 2023)

The following exploitation plan based on the findings and results of the ESSA project and its final Blueprint (Deliverable D5.3) has the objective to guarantee the further implementation, dissemination, running and development of the European Steel Skills Alliance for proactive industry skills adjustment. Right from the beginning of the project, starting with the proposal phase, the sustainable implementation of the European Steel Skills Alliance was a consideration and built into the programme of work. As an activity of the steel industry for the steel industry all the relevant stakeholder groups of the project (companies, training providers, research institutions, and associations / social partners) were integrated in the Blueprint developments. A significant partnership of 24 partners and, up to now, 20 associated partners (all willing to participate on their own costs) indicates a strong level of engagement and an urgency of the steel sector for re- and upskilling and attracting, recruiting and retaining talents for the future steel industry. In the ESSA Final Conference, it was stressed that the grounds for a sustainable running and further development of the ESSA skills alliance is given, supported and welcomed by all the stakeholders beyond the project funding period.

D6.2 Piloting and Implementing the Blueprint
Report on the piloting and sustainable implementation of the Blueprint framework /strategy, tools and measures (Final Version, June 2023)

D6.2 explored the Blueprint application and execution. A stable and reliable governance and coordination within the industry's existing structures was examined, tested, and implemented at European, national and regional level. Activities were based on the 'Prototype of the Blueprint New Skills Agenda Steel' and the excellent partnership alliance of ESSA. The main established governance elements of ESSA are:

1. The European Steel Technology and Skills Foresight Observatory as the main European coordination unit, conducting a regular European Steel Technology and Skills Foresight Panel (ESSA ETP).
2. The Online Training Ecosystem "steelHub".
3. The European Community of Practice of Steel Regions (ECoP Steel), connecting and supporting steel related member states and the main European steel regions with a European platform for several National-Regional Training Ecosystems.

These elements are implemented in the existing governance structures of the European Steel community and connected with existing European platforms and tools beyond the steel sector.

The Online Training Ecosystem "steelHub" sets the infrastructure for an open European exchange of training content, integrating inputs from and for steel associations and companies, VET systems, other Blueprints, European tools, and the non-formal and informal learning of individuals. steelHub became a centralized digital platform to facilitate communication, collaboration, and coordination.

The ESSA National-Regional Training Ecosystems are strongly connected to the Foresight Observatory and the steelHub. The European-national-regional coordination will be bundled in a European Community of Practice of Steel Regions (ECoP Steel), including additional national and regional stakeholders via the training ecosystems. Beside the nine pilot regions: steel regions in national level in Finland; national-regional level in Czech Republic, Germany and Spain (combining national and regional perspectives); regional level in UK (Wales), Italy, Poland, Romania, and the Netherlands (concentrated steel regions), further steel regions are foreseen to be integrated. Although the processes of the RTS were very different some common topics arose challenging for the European steel industry as such for years. In addition, to many commonalities, the rollout workshops also highlight major differences.

ESSA is a serving a Blueprint and Skills Agenda of the Steel Industry for the Steel Industry.

Concerning the Large Scale Partnership Energy Intensive Industries, under the Pact for Skills the European Steel Skills Alliance and Agenda ESSA and the Skills Alliance for Industrial Symbiosis SPIRE-SAIS, could be seen as the founders.

Main activities planned:

• Roadmap development
• Integration, merging topics/challenges to be solved
• Integration of further partners
• Support for ESSA/SPIRE-SAIS Workshops
• New proposal for the Pact for Skills call spring 2024

Implementation Plan for Blueprint Strategy

Deliverable D6.1 (Status: December 2021)

In addition to the report on the piloting and sustainable implementation of the Blueprint framework, strategies, tools and measures (Deliverable D6.2) Deliverable 6.1 focused on the implementation of the ESSA governance structure, including political and funding support, connectivity between EU and the national/regional level as a basis for the exploitation plan (Deliverable D6.3). ESSA was implemented with a social innovation process by the industry and for the industry integrating all the relevant and willing stakeholders on the European, national and regional level. Beside the European governance structure of ESSA, the implementation of the European Steel Technology and Skills Foresight Observatory and Panel, the further development and running of the steelHub as well as the national-regional rollout and the initiation and further development of national-regional Training Eco-systems was outlined. Additionally, an outlook of cooperation beyond the steel sector completed the implementation plan.

D5.3 Blueprint New Skills Agenda Steel (Final version, June 2023)

The final Blueprint is outlining a strategic agenda to proactively adjust skills demanded by the steel industry for the steel industry. Based on the recent and future technological and economic developments, skills demand and supply of training measures are outlined, related strands and structures figured out, already tested and checked with the stakeholders in the implementation and test phase. The Blueprint is reflecting the structure and main elements of ESSA, integrating developed tools and approaches with a focus on (a) incremental adjustment of skills in production and maintenance, (b) job profile description and assessment from an industry perspective, (c) adaption related to existing VET systems and their possible support. Core elements of the Blueprint are three:
(1) the European Foresight Observatory and its Steel Technology and Skills Foresight Panel (ESSA ETP) (demand side), and
(2) the European Online Training Ecosystem steelHub, as well as
(3) the rollout to Regional Skills and Training Ecosystems (ESSA RTS) coordinated by the European Community of National-Regional Training Ecosystems (ECoP Steel) (supply side).

D5.1 Training Framework (steelHub) Development of training courses, measures, arrangements, tools and activities for integration within VET, company and association training programme

(Final Version, June 2023)

This deliverable summarises the Training Framework development based on the results of and for the European Steel Skills Alliance and Agenda (ESSA) and its testing and implementation. It comprises the background and framework (chapter 3 and 4) and describes the methodology, implementation and results of the development of training activities and modules, including training the trainers, to be integrated into VET provision at European national and sector level (incl. interrelation to existing EU tools like EQF, ESCO, etc.). Main elements of the Blueprint for this integration are (a) the Online Training Eco-system steelHub and (b) the rollout to the National-Regional Training Eco-systems (ESSA RTS) in dedicated steel regions. As the ESSA RTS is described in detail in Deliverable D6.2 Implementing and Testing the Blueprint, this report focuses on the steelHub.

D4.5 Sector Skill Framework (Final Version, June 2023)

This deliverable report provides an overall summary to the research and matrix tasks conducted and carried out in the context of WP4 of the ESSA project. It covers VET Requirements and Regulations/National VET Systems (relevant requirements and regulations for the Blueprint), and it aims to offers actionable insights and recommendations based on the findings presented in Deliverables 4.1, 4.2, 4.3 (the reports) and 4.4 (the matrix).

D4.4 Sector Skill-Set Matrix - Matrix Database (Final Version, June 2023)

This deliverable is the ESSA Sector Skills Matrix (SSM) database, which aims to systematically identify, evaluate and compare steel-sector relevant Occupational Qualification Programmes (OQPs) in four European case countries (DE, ES, IT, PL), with the aim of providing a framework for the steel industry to work with VET providers and close sector related transversal skills gaps. The matrix database takes the form of a spreadsheet and uses a RAG (red-amber-green) system to identify skills gaps across key OQPs within the four case countries. The SSM database is incorporated within the steelHub.

 D4.3 Sector Skills Matrix Report (Final Version, June 2023)

This report serves both as a rationalisation of and a (methodological) guide to the ESSA Sector Skills Matrix (D.4.4). The Sector Skills Matrix (SSM) is the outcome of an attempt to systematically identify, evaluate and compare steel-sector relevant Occupational Qualification Programmes (OQPs) in four European case countries (DE, ES, IT, PL). The Matrix’s intended three main function are 1) to identify steel sector relevant occupational qualification programmes in four (initially five case study, including the UK) countries; 2) to provide a range of standardised and thus comparable formal information about each identified qualification programme and 3) to provide an assessment of each OQP in terms of adequacy of current and future transversal skills supply.

D4.2 Analysis of cross-European VET frame-works and standards for sector skills recognition
(Status: Final Version, December 2022)

The convergence of European vocational education and training (VET) systems within an EU framework started gradually in the second half of the 20th century and accelerated in the 90s and early 2000s with the launch of mobility and research transnational programmes and the establishment of EQF (2008), ECVET (2009), EQAVET (2009), and the Recommendation on the validation of non-formal and informal learning. This report comments on efforts to harmonise VET qualification systems, build transparency and comparability and aid mobility of qualifications across the EU and how such efforts inform the steel sector talent mobility. The report discusses how an optimal implementation and combination of such frameworks and tools could support the industry in terms of favouring cross-national skills recognition, skills and qualifications mapping and benchmarking, as well as talent mobility. It further provides a deeper analysis of the frameworks and has particular relevance where ESSA has focused in its outputs on approaches favouring learning outcomes and modularisation.

D4.1 Identification of National (Sector) VET Qualification and Skills (Regulatory) Frameworks for Steel (Final Version, December 2022)

This Deliverable focuses on the essential characteristics and main regulatory frameworks of Vocational Education and Training (VET) systems in five European countries involved in the ESSA partnership: DE, IT, PL, ES, UK. The Deliverable moves from some general considerations about globalisation, market trends and technological innovation (which set the broad context for discussing the VET systems), to the process of skills formation and how this relates with vocational education and training in Europe. Subsequently, the Deliverable outlines the main characteristics and regulative frameworks of the five selected VET systems, how they function and relate to the labour market, with a special focus on how national VET systems are able to connect with, and respond to, the requirements of the steel industry.

D3.2 Company Skills Requirements and Foresight (Final Version, June 2023)

In this Deliverable, has been addressed the near future changes in the professional skills requirements of the steel industry facing Industry 4.0 and provides insights and hints from varied perspectives to deal with the current skills requirements and as well as the future skills requirements urging with digitalization. It offers concrete examples to demonstrate how the steel company departments (particularly Human Resources (HR) Department), curricula developers, qualification providers and other stakeholders can use the generated profiles for
ESSA: Company Skills Requirements
4
job profile definitions during the assessment, career development and curriculum design, in order to support an organisational change process including digital transformation.

D3.1 Database of Professional Profiles (final version)

Brief Description:

• The potentiality for the equivalence between ESCO and the titles in the STEEL SECTOR opened the door to the automatization of the description of the European Steel Sector Job Profiles taking the ESCO description of occupations as the basis.
• We implemented an excel-based software that will allow automating the description of the different steel-related job profiles. 
• Consequently, a common and automated database of professional profiles has been generated.  
• It can be used effectively only in online format as a google document. 
• As explained in the video, the new format of the database enables us to introduce the additional future skills for each job profile. (Skills which can not be found in ESCO database but identified by ESSA)
• The database was created to be used as common basis about the professional steel role profiles, their tasks and current/future skills needs in the European steel sector.  The targeted end-users are steel companies as well as other training providers (VET institutions, universities etc).  

D2.1Digital transformation in European Steel Industry: state of art and future scenario (Status: 30.06.2023)

The impact of digitalization on the steel industry workforce as well as the future economic developments are discussed in Chapter 3, where future scenarios consider digitalization enabling a new way of work within efficient plants in order to face the new challenges and to remain competitive and sustainable at the same time. Therefore, steel industries are and will be more and more digitalized, making available vast amount of data from the whole production chain and even from the ecosystem in the areas where steel plants are located.

Deliverable D1.5 Final Report (Status: 30th of June 2023)

This report summarises the progress of the European Steel Skills Alliance and Agenda (ESSA) and its implementation strategies until the end of the project (June 2023), done in an iterative way. Starting with (1) the ESSA overview, objectives and methodology, (2) the results of the technological and economic development will be summarised as a background for (3) the industry skills demands and (4) VET system requirements. Against this backdrop (5) outlines of the European Blueprint will be presented as well as (6) its transfer and implementation strategies, leading to related policy recommendations aligned with the legislative frameworks (7).
In line with the strategies and measures of the European Commission’s "New Skills Agenda", ESSA is especially committed to the "Twin Transformation: Digital and Green", the "Pact for Skills" and as well with existing VET tools and measures (such as EQF, ESCO, EQAVET, Europass and ECQA). Additionally, the ESSA Blueprint benefited highly from the Steel Sector Careers Blueprint (White Research et al., 2020) by integrating its valuable results.

Deliverable D4.2 Analysis of cross-European VET frame-works and standards for sector skills recognition

The convergence of European vocational education and training (VET) systems within an EU framework started gradually in the second half of the 20th century and accelerated in the 90s and early 2000s with the launch of mobility and research transnational programmes and the establishment of EQF (2008), ECVET (2009), EQAVET (2009), and the Recommendation on the validation of non-formal and informal learning (2012). 

The main outcomes of this process can be listed as follows:

• progressive shift to a learning outcomes approach;
• progressive establishment of a credit system and shift to a unit-based/modular approach;
• introduction of guidelines for establishing mechanisms for the recognition, validation and certification of informal and non-formal learning;
• establishment of national quality assurance systems in line with the EU requirements;
• establishment of cross-national databases and systems for mapping and cross-referenc-ing education and vocational qualifications (e.g., ESCO, ISCO, ISCED), increasing transparency and comparability.

Deliverable D4.1 Identification of National (Sector) VET Qualification and Skills (Regulatory) Frameworks for Steel

The comparative research conducted for ESSA has identified some common trends in the case study countries (DE, ES, IT, PL, UK) and obtained some relevant insights in relation to skills gaps, systems’ strengths and shortcomings, to inform cooperation between industry and VET providers.

Deliverable D3.2 Company Skills Requirements and Foresight

In this Deliverable, ESSA Project WP3 addresses the near future changes in the professional skills requirements of the steel industry facing Industry 4.0 and provides insights and hints from varied perspectives to deal with the current skills requirements and as well as the future skills requirements urging with digitalization. It offers concrete examples to demonstrate how the steel company departments (particularly Human Resources (HR) Department), curricula developers, qualification providers and other stakeholders can use the generated profiles for job profile definitions during the assessment, career development and curriculum design, in order to support an organisational change process including digital transformation.
Additionally, this work package offers a brief guidance on how to connect the profile

ESSA D3.1 Database of professional profiles - FINAL VERSION (December 2022)

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1rn_X5fOBbMMItwr0lzBqluFtGzyAkO305fUM8VPcdO8/edit#gid=197836229

A detailed video about how to use the database can be found in this link: 

https://www.loom.com/share/9b09ca48e6c94b0a9a27789883fca588

Brief Description:

• The potentiality for the equivalence between ESCO and the titles in the STEEL SECTOR opened the door to the automatization of the description of the European Steel Sector Job Profiles taking the ESCO description of occupations as the basis.
• We implemented an excel-based software that will allow automating the description of the different steel-related job profiles. 
• Consequently, a common and automated database of professional profiles has been generated.  
• It can be used effectively only in online format as a google document. 
• As explained in the video, the new format of the database enables us to introduce the additional future skills for each job profile. (Skills which cannot be found in ESCO database but identified by ESSA)
• The database was created to be used as common basis about the professional steel role profiles, their tasks and current/future skills needs in the European steel sector.  The targeted end-users are steel companies as well as other training providers (VET institutions, universities etc.).  

Implementation Plan for Blueprint Strategy

Deliverable D6.1 (Status: December 2021)

In addition to the report on the piloting and sustainable implementation of the Blueprint frame-work, strategies, tools and measures (see Deliverable D6.2; Schröder et al., 2021) this deliv-erable will focus on the implementation of the ESSA governance structure, incl. political and funding support, connectivity between EU and the national/regional level as a basis for the exploitation plan (Deliverable D6.3). ESSA will be implemented with a social innovation pro-cess by the industry and for the industry integrating all the relevant and willing stakeholders on the European, national and regional level.

Identification of National (Sector) VET Qualification and Skills (Regulatory) Frameworks for Steel

Deliverable D4.1 (Status: Version 2 – August 2021)

This report focuses on VET essential characteristics and regulation in five countries selected from among the ESSA partnership: Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain, UK.
This deliverable (D4.1) is one of the five outcomes of WP4 – VET Requirements and Regula-tions/National VET Systems (relevant requirements and regulations for the Blueprint), which is aligned with, and a continuation of, the research carried out in WP2 - Technological and Economic Development and Foresight, and WP3 - (Company) Skills Requirements and Fore-sight (Skills, Knowledge, Competences; Work 4.0).
The WP4 deliverables are devised as complementary to one another and aim to offer wide-angle pictures of different aspects of the relationship between industry and vocational education and training. Specifically, this report intends to offer a picture of regulatory aspects and essen-tial characteristics of the selected countries’ VET systems, with a special focus on VET provision related to the Steel Industry.

Analysis of cross-European VET frame-works and standards for sector skills recognition

Deliverable D4.2 (Status: Version 2 – August 2021)

The following report focuses on cross-European VET frameworks and standards for sector skills recognition. It is one of the five outcomes of WP4 – VET Requirements and Regula-tions/National VET Systems (relevant requirements and regulations for the Blueprint) and is intended as complementary to the other deliverables produced under this work package.
This report provides an overview of the most relevant tools and frameworks devised and im-plemented at the EU level to support the transparency and transferability of qualifications and competencies among the EU countries.

Sector Skills Matrix Report

Deliverable D4.3 - (Status: Version 2- August 2021)

This report serves both as a rationalisation of and a guide to the ESSA Sector Skills Matrix (D.4.4).
The Sector Skills Matrix (SSM) is a systematic attempt to identify steel-sector relevant occupational qualification programmes in five European countries with a significant steel industry. The Matrix’s main function is to provide an assessment of each occupational qualification programme in terms of adequacy of current transversal skills provision. Additionally, by taking ESSA research on future skill needs in the steel sector into account, the Matrix is also able to provide an assessment of current and future transversal skills gaps for each qualification programme. In doing so, the Matrix is a valu-able tool that can help to structure future efforts to improve transversal skills provision, which are widely seen as critical in the context of Industry 4.0 and digitalisation.

Sector Skill-Set Matrix - Matrix Database 

Deliverable D4.4 - (Status: Version 2 – August 2021)

The Sector Skills Matrix (D4.4) that is being developed within WP4 intends to offer industry stakeholders a tool for capturing (and comparing) information about steel-relevant qualifications and relative transversal skills pro-vision across different countries (starting with the ESSA five case study countries).

Sector Skill Framework

Deliverable D4.5 (Status: Version 2 – August 2021)

This report aims to offer a brief and clear overview of the state of play of vocational education and training in the ESSA case study countries, as well as more generalisable insights and recommendations on how to effectively navigate the opportunities offered by the different VET systems (exem-plified by the 5 case study countries) and overcome their limitations.

Database of Professional Profiles 

Deliverable D3.1 - (Status: Version 2 – August 2021)

The potential equivalence between ESCO and the titles in the STEEL SECTOR also enabled us to generate an automated database for the description of the European Steel Sector Professional Role Profiles taking the ESCO description of occupations as the main data source. Using the ESCO database for Occupations, DEUSTO University has developed a software that will allow automating the description of the different profiles of the STEEL SECTOR.
The result of this first description of the profiles are continuously being validated and refined through the knowledge of the Steel Sector industrial partners that are collaborating on the WP3. The aim of this step was to create a common database of professional profiles related with steel sector, which is interactive for continuous updating. It was accomplished through data integration and automation processes. The database is delivered under the name of “Deliverable 3.1 Database of the Professional Profiles”

Company Skills Requirements and Foresight

Deliverable D3.2 (Status: Version 2- August 2021)

In this Deliverable, WP3 addresses the near future changes in the professional skills requirements of the steel industry facing Industry 4.0 and provides insights and hints from varied perspectives to deal with the current skills requirements and as well as the future skills requirements urging with digitalization. It offers concrete examples to demonstrate how the steel company departments (particularly Human Resources (HR) Department), curricula developers, qualification providers and other stakeholders can use the generated profiles for job profile definitions during the assessment, career development and curriculum design, in order to support an organisational change process including digital transformation.

Piloting and Implementing the Blueprint

Report on the piloting and sustainable implementation of the Blueprint frame-work /strategy, tools and measures.

Deliverable D6.2 (Status: First Version 30.06.2021)

The deliverable "Piloting and Implementing the Blueprint" explores the activities planned as part of the Blueprint implementation. The aim is to establish a stable and reliable governance and coordination of activities via the industry's existing structures, and to do so on the Euro-pean, national and regional level. It is a proposal, that has to be discussed with the main actors of the European Steel Industry community.
The piloting and implementation process is based on the strategy 'Prototype of the Blueprint New Skills Agenda Steel' and on the already huge and excellent partnership alliance of ESSA (40 partners comprising companies, training providers, European and national steel associa-tions and social partner, and research institutions). The main elements of ESSA are:
The European Steel Technology and Skills Foresight Observatory (ESSA ETF), including the regular (annual or bi-annual) European Steel Technology and Skills Foresight Panel (ESSA ETP) (demand side)
The Online Training Ecosystem "steelHub" (ESSA OTS) and Regional Training Ecosystems (ESSA RTS) (supply side).

Digital Transformation in European Steel Industry: State of Art and Future Scenario

Deliverable D2.1 - Version 2 (Status: 31.07.2021)

Digitalization can be considered the main driver that directly impacts on the advanced manufacturing and transversally affects all the others. As consequence, it can be said that the technological transformation in the European Industry is driven by digitalization, aiming mainly to increase the production efficiency and sustainability in order to reduce the industrial environmental impact. The digital transformation of the steel production mainly concerns the application of the related technologies on the steel production processes, where the ongoing technological developments are focused on two fields: 1) advanced tools for the optimization of the whole production chain and 2) specific technologies for low-carbon production.

This deliverable is the updated version the first one released on July 2019 and integrated with the survey results on November 2019.
Differently from the first version of the deliverable, the survey was not carried out because part of this survey will be integrated to form a regular (annual or bi-annual) foresight survey: ESSA European Steel Technology and Skills Foresight Panel (ESSA ETP). It includes not only tech-nological aspects, but also questions from other surveys carried out in other WPs of the project and related to industry steel skills requirements (WP3) and VET (Vocational Education and Training) systems anticipation and support of future skills (WP4). This panel will be a central part of the ESSA Foresight Observatory (ESSA ETF), under construction.

Mid-term Report

Deliverable D1.4 (Status: 31st of December 2020)

This report summarises the progress of the European Steel Skills Alliance and Agenda (ESSA) and its implementation strategies based on the results of its first cycle:
Phase 1: Identifying skills requirements and basics for establishing the Blueprint (WP 2, 3, and 4), first contours of the Blueprint (WP5)
Phase 2: Reflecting the first research results and network development with policy, social partner, European and national representatives (WP6, 7)
Phase 3: Upgrade of the research results of phase 1 (WP 2, 3, 4), implementing a prototype of the European Steel Skills Agenda and strategy (WP5).

Training Framework Development of training courses, measures, arrangements, tools and activities for integration within VET, company and association training programme

Deliverable D5.1 First Framework (Version 1) Status: 31st of December 2020

This report summarises the foreseen Training Framework based on the progress of the European Steel Skills Alliance and Agenda (ESSA) and its implementation strategies of its first cycle:
• Phase 1: Identifying skills requirements and foundations for establishing the Blueprint (WP 2, 3, and 4), first contours of the Blueprint (WP5)
• Phase 2: Reflecting the first research results and network development with policy, social part-ner, European and national representatives (WP6, 7)
• Phase 3: Upgrade of the research results of phase 1 (WP 2, 3, 4), implementing a Blueprint Pro-totype of the European Steel Skills Agenda and strategy (WP5).

Prototype of the Blueprint New Skills Agenda Steel

Deliverable D5.2 (Status: December 2020)